Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Homeschooling Through the Alphabet: T is for Trends

One thing that I have really been noticing, these past few months in particular, is that homeschooling tends to shelter us just a bit from all the trends that I KNOW we'd be exposed to if my kids were in a traditional public school.

A trend is defined as whatever is popular.
Obviously trends come and go; some in the blink of an eye and some with a bit more staying power.

I can't say I have anything for or against trends and many of the bigger trends do find their way into our home, if at a slightly later date than in those homes of my boys' public school peers.

I have been noticing that I often don't even know what some of my mom friends are talking about when they refer to certain trends; like when they ask if my boys are into bottle flipping or want a fidget spinner (or whatever is currently popular).

We had just been talking about fidget spinners: what they were, how my friends were complaining they were hard to find, what they were originally intended to be used for, and how many schools were having problems with them when my oldest son just ended up getting a fidget spinner for his birthday later that same day!

Once he opened his gift and got an answer to his "what is it?" question, he really has enjoyed playing with a bit here and there while he's watching TV or whatever.

My youngest two sons just do not get the appeal at all. They are still marveling at the idea that many of their friends are so excited about fidget spinners that they were jumping up and down while talking about them and my boys were blown away to see an entire claw machine filled with fidget spinner packages.

IF my boys saw this set up they'd be thinking of drinking the water.. and that;s about it.

Oftentimes my boys might know about a popular trend but they'll tell me they just don't get it and don't understand why some things become popular trends or why people just want something because everyone else has it.

I love that they are able to pick and choose what they are interested in based solely on what THEY are interested in!

Of course they are exposed to a wide variety of toys, video games, and trendy new songs/ videos by being with their peers and friends but they think nothing of saying that they don't like it nor admitting that they love something other people are telling them they don't enjoy or don't think is cool.

I love that homeschooling has helped them become individuals and ones with their own unwavering opinions at that!

Comments

I love this post! I am certain that my kids are very sheltered from the "trends", and I am okay with that! My oldest son does love to bottle flip, but we don't have any fidget spinners. I've seen them on Pinterest, but don't see the appeal! My kids would probably ly try to throw them like ninja stars!

Yes, yes, yes!! I was at a family gathering the other day and "finally" saw a fidget spinner after seeing tons of public school teacher friend talking about how awful they were. And the whole bottle flipping thing? Yep. We missed that, as well. Like you, I am so thankful that my girls choose what they get hooked on by their own choices rather than by peer pressure or just acceptance of what others are doing without thinking about it. Great post on a HUGE benefit of home education. - Lori

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

With both my husband and myself on Weight Watchers we've cut out so many snacks but found some really delicious yogurt bars that we're all loving... but at 4 pops for just over $4 a box I thought it might be fun to try making our own. I just knew this would be a perfect lesson to add to our 100 days of science challenge!

We bought a popsicle mold last year and we had mixed results with making a few different kinds. I thought making some homemade yogurt pops would be a great, yummy, science experiment.
First we diced up some strawberries making sure we had about a cup of them.

Then put them through our blender with 1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt, a 1/2 cup of almond milk, 2 ounces of light cream cheese, a splash of vanilla, and just 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

We poured the mixture into our molds; getting 7 1/2 pops. We let them freeze for an hour while we went hiking and then pulled them out of the freezer just long enough to put the sticks inside. Then we fr…

Ian is starting a new film study unit in our homeschool. He loves watching movies and when I found the Thinking Tree Film Study Journal I just knew Ian would love the opportunity to watch movies as part of his homeschooling day.

I set to work writing up a list of movies I thought he'd enjoy watching. These are just some of the movies I found that I thought he'd enjoy watching as part of our history lessons.

1. Secretariat-- A story about a horse that won the Triple crown in 1973; the first American Thoroughbred to win in 25 years.

2. Captain Philips- A movie about the 2009 hijacking of a US Container ship by a crew of pirates.

3. Sully- Based on the "Miracle on the Hudson" this movie takes us through the plane that landed in the Hudson river.

The boys all piled into my bed for some snuggling and cuddling. We talked and just enjoyed hanging out with one another for quite a bit. Once they all started tickling one another, feet were flying and wrestling ensued I decided to sneak out and spend some time on the computer coming up with a plan of activities.

It seems our weeks go best when I have activity ideas already in my mind when the week begins.

If we don't get around to them it's not a big deal, but it seems to work best if I have suggestions for some fun learning games and projects.

Typically I only plan enough activities to last us until lunch and then they're on their own for actual unschooling.

I don't force anyone to participate in any lesson or activity; I suggest things to do that I hope they'll be interested in.

Lately, I've made the mistake of not having ideas at the ready and it seems like we're all floundering for things to do. I started out trying to make a list of 5 activitie…

Here in the states we have a nice long weekend coming up for Memorial day. While we don't do much to celebrate the actual holiday it's always a special weekend for us since my husband and I were married memorial day weekend 18 years ago.